Aztecs, Mayans, Incas – Oh My!!!

May 22, 2007

Greetings my fellow historians! History in Action has been out of commission for a little while. Things got real nasty at a little get together at the New York Historical Society. Let’s just say yours truly isn’t going to be getting any Christmas cards from Doris Kearns Goodwin! Now, let’s get onto the pudding that fills your pot, today’s entry!

In grade school, many of us learn the history of the famous Native American tribes: the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas. Reality check, not everything you learn in history class is “on the level.” Grab those dusty history mitts, march out to left field, it’s time to catch some “history flies!”

The Aztecs

The Aztec empire was located in what is today known as “Mexico.” They were incredibly advanced agriculturally, having developed irrigation methods well before their European counterparts. Though the empire was vast and wealthy, many Aztecs would flee their country for the possibility of employment in the “new world.”

Ritualistic sacrifice was known to have taken place in the Aztec empire. Some estimates suggest as many as 84,000 were once killed during a four day period. Puts the Iraq war numbers into perspective, huh? ;)

Games were especially important to the Aztecs. They played a sport akin to the Mesoamerican ballgame named tlachtli or ollamaliztli. It was a furious sport combining the athleticism of basketball, the brutality of football, and the strategy of baseball. However scoring was very low so it was really boring.

Aztecs used common items like cocoa beans and cotton for currency. When Europeans were handed the cocoa in exchange for goods they ate the cocoa thinking this was the custom. The Aztecs in turn would ingest European coins and paper money. The Europeans would laugh and the Aztecs would stare back embarrassed, sometimes crying out of shame. Eventually the Europeans, led by Hernando Cortés, would slaughter the Aztecs not ravaged by Smallpox.

Mayans

The Mayans were incredibly advanced scientifically. They developed many concepts before their European counterparts. Such concepts and advancements included absolute zero, telepathy, “to be continued…” episodes, and post-rock, and irrigation.

Mayan art was especially skillful and renown in foreign lands. Of particular note was the attention made to the depiction of female breasts. Large, drooping bosoms were considered a sign of fertility in Maya. Lopsided, turned out breasts were even more attractive, as well as those bespectacled by acne and hair. Take that, Hefner!

Like the Aztecs, the Mayans sacrificed humans, including children who they believed to be pure. Too bad they didn’t have Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” on the case!

Incas

The Incas dominated a large area of land in what is now modern day Peru. They lacked a written language, but were pioneers in early phonograph recordings, predating Thomas Edison by hundreds of years. Early Inca 45s are prized by music snobs for their raw production value. They can fetch up to twenty bucks on eBay.

Francisco Pizarro is believed to have conquered the Incas with 180 men, 1 cannon and only 27 horses. He often needed to talk his way out of potential confrontations that could have easily wiped out his party. Try that against a suicide bomber in Iraq!!! :P

Unlike the Mayans and Aztecs, the Incas were quite agriculturally advanced, having developed a system of irrigation to rival their European counterparts.

I liked reading this little bit of all three of the indian tribes. To also see on your map were they were all located. As for the Incas they did not just occupy lands of peru but of also parts of Bolivia,Chile,and Argentina. Is this a correct ? Parts of all these countries.

dont u have lives?
i mean, cursing on utube about a stupid video is one thing, but to write bad words on a HISTORY PAGE ABOUT EARLY AMERICANS is pretty sad. people read this to get info for school, not to see your bad mouth writing all over the page. come on, get a life, or pick a different site to curse out on

to the author of the page, thanx for making it. like everyone else(who arent idiotic) this page will help alot on my report

Games were especially important to the Aztecs. They played a sport akin to the Mesoamerican ballgame named tlachtli or ollamaliztli. It was a furious sport combining the athleticism of basketball, the brutality of football, and the strategy of baseball. However scoring was very low so it was really boring…. compared to what? you really are a moron. Are you of aztec,mayan or incan decent? Get your shit straight pendejo.

this is just terrible writing. aside from the obvious contradiction in how you characterize aztec and incan agriculture, your jokes about real people dying suck are in poor taste and kill any historical sense that you may have been looking for -but likely you could care less-. finaly the fact that highschool students are so eager to take up this trite shit and there teaches could care less -“i’m gonna ace this test!” speak volumes the triumph of ignorance that takes place on a daily basis in this country. =

most of these people on here are a bunch of idiotic morons for swearing, and disencourageing this person who has done a wondrous job….so if you shall continue, i will report you…good luck, and sont mess with me. Have fun being unsuccessful at life.

(P.S. PLEASE KEEP WRITING I THINK YOU HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB, IGNORE THESE IDIOTS, HAVE FUN).

Hi. I treasured to drop you a quick note to impart my thanks. I’ve been following your blog for a month or so and have plucked up a heap of effective information as well as relished the way you’ve structured your site. I am attempting to run my own blog however I think its too general and I would like to focus more on smaller topics.

I’m a fifteen year old looking for information about Ancient civilisations.

#1 – It’s not the best information, but good effort.
#2 – Stop with the swearing, it’s a public website and adolescents like me (and even younger people) come onto this link and see all this bad language.
#3 – For the people with the nasty comments, even a fifteen year old knows better than not to say what you all are saying.

-The Aztecs: They were incredibly advanced agriculturally, having developed irrigation methods well before their European counterparts.
-The Incas: Unlike the Mayans and Aztecs, the Incas were quite agriculturally advanced, having developed a system of irrigation to rival their European counterparts.

Whoever wrote this shit is a fucking moron and needs to shoot himself in the face and die in a fire. Fucking retarded dipshit nigger.

You clearly don’t know what you are talking about. Your last paragraph states that the Incas unlike the Mayans and Aztecs were agriculturally advanced. Your prior paragraphs on the Mayans and Aztecs stated that they were each agriculturally advanced. Are you on drugs?

First off I would like to point out that this is a public website where other people can read what you are writing so the language should go down. Second, if you dont like the way the guy has established his knowledge then go to another source and dont cause shit because you’re an attention-freak. and mister… you probably should get facts down a little better but other than that good job :D

THIS ARTICLE IS FULL OF HOLES. LIKE SWISS CHEESE! I can only wonder which rock the person who wrote this article crawled out from under. Hmm, perhaps even, which kind of rock. maybe, A CRACK ROCK?!??!?!?!?! Naw, just kiddin, although the “facts” are rather unsophisticated and I can’t say I found them that useful. Actually after reading the entire article and then reading the comments, I gotta say, HA! RE-DONKULOUS! But ya… if this was read to me instead of me reading it, it woulda been rape to my ears, fortunately, it was only rape to my eyes. LEARN SOMETHING, THEN REGURGITATE INFORMATION, THIS IS AS USEFUL AS A SPEECH BY G-Bush. OH Opinions… :) IRAQ WAR WAS OIL RELATED PPL DIED SO THAT PPL WITH MONEY COULD HAVE MORE.

I think the article could do without the humor, but overall not bad. However, I agree with the person above me, you did contradict yourself at the end. It definitely makes one wonder if the rest of the information is false.

AS for all the children swearing on here…don’t you have facebook or a youtube account or even craigslist to be vulger on? This is a HISTORY website…just sayin’.

ok this is to all you people who swore- you suck!! this is a history site!! you guys are just a bunch of losers who try to be cool by swearing- trust me i’m popular and hot and i don’t swear. so why do you?? you seriously need to get a life, quit cursing and learn to spell!!!

first off, i much enjoy learning about these civilizations. i went to see the Myan temples in Chichen Itza. i was at a lose for words the whole hour or two i spent there. it was beyond amazing. i hope to one day continue my travels to see all 3 of the tribes locations. i know there are a lot but im young i can do it.
second off, this is not a place for negativity. if u have an respect for yourself and those around u, i would think you wouldnt post SHIT like that. im no goody good or what ever just a lover of mysterious history.
thank you to whom ever wrote this very insightful bit. i hope i can find more such as this to better my education on the tribes. as for those others who were rude i hope maybe one day u can appreciate the world and its mysteries with out spreading ur hate, its a disease… knock it off.

I’m still fuzzy on a few things Were Aztecs, Mayans and incas culturally distinct or did they share origins?
Also , the section on Aztecs were incredibly advanced agriculturally.
The article on the incas says , unloved the Mayans and Aztecs , incas were quite agriculturally advanced. Just trying to figure who had a society based on farming which really defines parameters such as mobility and trade of cultures
Thanks,
Paul

u ignorant fuck. are trying to imply that the war in iraq is justified? i dont know much about the aztecs,or mayans or incas, but by the looks of ur comments u sound like an uneducated , ignorant little shit. do sum research on current events, as well as the aztecs, mayans, and incas. u fucking mindless zombie

Guys, this page was created to help and educate people about American civilizations. If you don’t like this then you may as well leave as I for one find this very interesting and informative. Thanks for creating this.

1. Is there any testimony from the europeans to confirm this human sacrifice?
2. Were there any mass collection of skulls found?
3. Lets not confuse human sacrifice with public punishment, or drakonian law?
4. Claiming these people did human sacrifice could be a way the europeans make mockery of these people legacy! This is like saying the achient egyptians did human sacrifice. But the recording of they history in the bible prevents that.